10 Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers for Home Cooks

Thanksgiving is over, and now Christmas shopping is on everyone’s mind. I LOVE Christmas shopping. I love making my list for everyone, thinking of the perfect gifts, and then finding the best deals to fulfill them. My absolute FAVORITE part of Christmas shopping is filling up the stockings. It’s so fun because you get to shove a ton of gifts into a small space (I also love opening my own stocking for this reason…haha). If one of the people on your list happens to be a home cook or food lover, these 10 inexpensive stocking stuffers for home cooks may be just the thing you need to finish off their stocking. I own (and LOVE) every one of these items, and use them often.

Note: I linked to these items on amazon for convenience, but I encourage you to shop around for these items for the best price.

10 Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers for Home Cooks

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Garlic PressIf you are a garlic lover this item is a huge time saver in the kitchen. Just plop the garlic in without even peeling and get perfectly smashed garlic. There is no substitute for freshly minced garlic in a recipe, but peeling it and chopping it yourself can be pretty time-consuming. A garlic press is the perfect solution. While there are plenty of good garlic presses out there, be sure to shop around for one that has good reviews as I have owned a few and some are definitely better than others.

Silicon WhisksI learned in college that you aren’t supposed to use metal forks/spoons in your nice pans to avoid scratching and ruining the bottoms. It was news to me. This is a pretty easy problem to correct with something as simple as a wooden spoon. There are times though, particularly when I am making a rough or sauce for thickening, that I need to whisk something in a pot pretty vigorously. A wooden spoon just won’t do when you need a whisk, but most whisks are metal and therefore, will scratch up the bottom of the pan. Enter the silicon whisk. These whisks are so handy because they are heatproof, but coated in silicon so they protect your pan but give you the option to use a whisk on the stovetop. SCORE!

I recently talked about my revolutionary experience with a potato ricer in this post about making the perfect mashed potatoes. As I mentioned in the post, I don’t usually like to clutter my kitchen with devices that do only one thing. However, this device performs it’s one thing so well, that it’s a must-have in my kitchen. A potato ricer makes the lightest, fluffiest, best mashed potatoes ever. It’s definitely worth the small amount of storage space and small price tag to own one.

I was introduced to these beauties in college, and after getting one I could never go back. The main purpose of this little tool is to zest citrus, but it can also be used to grate garlic, ginger, and parmesan cheese. A box grater makes grating a horrible task because the zest seems to just get stuck in all the crevices and cause bleeding fingers. This grater is super sharp, and grates super small. I can zest a lemon in no time. I really love the version I linked to in amazon because it comes in lots of fun colors, which is extra fun for a Christmas gift. However, you should be able to find these awesome graters at any kitchen store.

Cupcake Decorating KitI am so not cutesy, and so not a decorator. I love to cook and make delicious treats, but I seriously don’t have the patience to do anything super creative with garnishing and decorating. Before I had one of these cupcake decorating kits I would totally just slather on the frosting and maybe add some sprinkles. Maybe. Now, my cupcakes seriously look professional. The best part, is that using these tips is actually faster and easier than slathering the frosting on with a knife. Another bonus is that you get to add about twice as much frosting to each cupcake. No one will be complaining about that 😉

I am a firm believer that a good quality chef’s knifeis the most important tool in anyone’s kitchen, and I’m usually not a big promoter of choppers, etc…but I do make an exception for this chopper. This chopper is just so dang fast at making perfect 1/2 and 1/4 inch dices. I especially love using it for potatoes to make home fries with. Diced bell peppers also turn out great from this tool. This is the perfect item if you are beginning to feed a baby finger foods. The 1/4 inch dice is perfect for little babies just learning to chew and eat. One caveat with this item is it’s not indestructible. If you bombard it with too large of pieces it will break, (yes, I’ve learned this from experience). I’ve learned to be careful though, and if/when it breaks I love it so much that I buy a new one.

If you are anything like me, anytime you make a smoothie you end up with at least twice as much as you need. I am always so tempted to throw in a little more of this and that to my smoothie until I have accidentally made twice as much as I meant to The problem with this, is that smoothies don’t save particularly well in the freezer or refrigerator on their own, so usually I either eat until I am sick or end up wasting lots of smoothie. These Popsicle makers are seriously the perfect solution for that problem. Just fill them up with the extra smoothie and pop them in the freezer. Then you’ll have a healthy Popsicle treat whenever you need it. Smoothie pops are great for grab and go breakfasts as well. Throw one or two frozen pops in your bag and eat them on the run or on the bus. Kids love these too (my daughter loves anything in popsicle form.) They are a little less messy than their liquid counterparts.

This item is so convenient for the winter time for one reason, puree’d homemade soups. If you’ve ever tried to puree hot soup in a regular blender you may know what a potentially life-threatening situation this can be. As I type this, I have memories of blazing hot tomato soup flying around my kitchen from this very situation. An immersion blender makes it so easy to puree’s soups and stews right in the pot you cook them in. Less clean-up is always a bonus! A stick blender is also a nice tool to have for tiny tots. You can mash their food up a bit right in the bowl you’re going to serve it in if you desire. This is definitely a fun product to have. This particular one also comes in fun colors which is always a bonus!

For some reason, I am absolutely obsessed with cute salt and pepper shakers. Our very first Christmas as a married couple, my husband bought me a pair of owl salt and pepper shakers. When they sadly broke this last year, I replaced them with ceramic mason jars in tiffany blue. Now I have my eye on these cute cupcakes. I love adding a little character to my kitchen with something small. Salt and pepper shakers aren’t a big commitment and don’t break the bank. Also, I did see some r2d2 salt and pepper shakers in my shopping to create this list. Keep that in mind if you’ve got a chef/star wars enthusiast on your list. You just might make their entire year!

I first purchased a lemon juicer to make homemade lemonade. At the time, I remember thinking it was kind of a silly purchase; I could certainly just use my hands to juice a lemon, right!? While this is technically true, this lemon juicer really is one of my favorite devices. It’s super effective at getting LOTS of juice out of those lemons. It also saves my hands from all that acidic juice which sometime stings. This juicer comes in lime, lemon, and orange so choose whichever thing you juice the most. The lime juicer is a little pointless, because you can easily use the lemon juicer instead. I have also squeezed oranges into my lemon juicer several times, and it works just fine.

I hope you find this list useful and can find some awesome stocking stuffers for home cooks on your list. These little items truly are some of my favorites, you can’t go wrong with them!

What are your favorite kitchen tools that can fit inside of a stocking!? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!